Staple fiber feeder for baling press

ABSTRACT

AN AIR-STAPLE SEPARATOR HAVING AN INLET LINE FOR PNEUMATICALLY CONDUCTING STAPLE TO A SEPARATOR CHAMBER. THE INLET LINE INCLUDES A SPOUT PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID SEPARATOR AND OSCILLATABLE TO DISTRIBUTE STAPLE UNIFORMLY IN SAID SEPARATOR CHAMBER.

Jan. 5, 1971 E. w. GILBRETH I v 3,552,301

STAPLE FIBER FEEDER FOR BALING PRESS Filed Nov. 27, 19 68 2 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTOR. E. w. GI LBRETH A T TORNE VS Jan. 1971 E. w. GILBRETH' ISTAPLE FIBER FEEDER FOR BALING PRESS 2 sheetssheet .2

Filed Nov. 27, 1968 INVENTOR. E. W. GILB RETH BY W W A T TORNE i sUnited States Patent O 3,552,801 STAPLE FIBER FEEDER FOR BALING PRESSEual W. Gilbreth, Greenville, S.C., assignor to Phillips PetroleumCompany, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 779,494Int. Cl. B6Sg 53/40 US. Cl. 30261 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anair-staple separator having an inlet line for pneumatically conductingstaple to a separator chamber. The inlet line includes a spout pivotallymounted on said separator and oscillatable to distribute stapleuniformly in said separator chamber,

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generallyto the baling of staple fibers and more particularly to the feeding ofstaple fibers into the baler.

Natural and man-made fibers are available in a wide variety of physicalforms such as filament yarn, tow, and staple. Through conventionalprocesses, the fibers may be chemically and/ or physically changed toconvert the yarn into tow and to reduce the tow into staple. The tow(many parallel continuous filaments grouped together in a rope lifeform) is processed by a cutting up operation to form the staple (shortlengths of filaments). The staple is then packed into bales for shipmentto the spinning mill.

The present invention is concerned with the baling operation. One methodfor reducing the tow to staple provides for the dry cutting of filamentsinto definite set lengths by a rotary cutter and then blowing the stapleinto a separator. The function of the separator, as the name indicates,is to separate the staple from the conveying medium and to gravity feedthe staple into the baler. Heretofore, the separator has been providedwith a fixed inlet and a fixed outlet so that the air passing from theinlet to the outlet assumes a fixed pattern. A considerable amount ofair is required to convey the staple to the separator and the resultingcurrents have a pronounced effect on the accumulation therein. Becauseof the fixed nature of the air currents, it has been found that thestaple tends to accumulate unevenly in the separator. It has furtherbeen found that the effect of the uneven distribution in the separatorresults in irregular bales. For example, in the typical baler theseparator gravity feeds the staple into a receiving compartment whenceit is pushed and tramped into the baling chamber. When the chamber hasreceived a predetermined amount of staple, hydraulic rams operate tocompact the staple to the desired volume and density. With the use ofthe conventional separator and its associated feeding apparatus, theresulting uneven distribution produces a wedge shaped bale having spacesof low density. For purposes of transportation, it is desirable that thebales have a uniform density and regular geometric form to facilitatestackability. Furthermore, the uneven distribution in the baling chamberresults in nonaxial stresseson the ram which frequently causesmisalignment and damage to the baling press.

In recognition of the effect of the uneven distribution, the presentinvention provides for a novel feeding apparatus for uniformlydelivering staple within the separator. It has been found that if thestaple fibers are distributed evenly in the separator, the problems ofirregular bales and misalignment of the baler packing parts aresubstantially eliminated. The present invention provides a movabledischarge spout that angularly distributes the staple and air in theseparator. The air currents thus are controlled, mitigating their effecton the accumulation of the staple in the separator.

While the present invention is described as handling polypropylenestaple fibers, the principles exemplified therein are equally applicableto other natural and man made staple fibers.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional staple separatorprovided with a novel distribution apparatus of this invention withportions cut away for convenience of illustration;

FIG. 2 is a view of the separator and apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and asviewed from the plane indicated by the line 22 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings,a separator 10 is shown mounted on a conventional baler, a portion ofwhich is shown as 11. The separator 10 includes an outer rectan gularbox 12 of sheet metal construction and an inner box 13 concentricallymounted in the outer box. The inner box 13 is of perforated sheet metalconstruction supported by corner angles, one shown as 14 and provides anair-staple separator chamber. An inlet line 15 which leads from aconventional blower (not shown) is swivelly connected to a spout 16having a discharge end 16a disposed internally of the inner box 13. Anair outlet port 17 is formed in the outer box 12 and leads to the airoutlet line 18. The lower end of 19 of the inner box 13 is open and isin communication with the baler inlet. Thus, as air and staple fiber are'blown through the inlet line 15, the flow is directed downwardly intothe inner box 13. The air indicated by the arrow A flows through thescreen of the inner box 13 and enters the outlet line 18 through port 17while'the staple indicated by the arrow S gravitates downwardly withinthe confines of box 13 through the open end 19 into the baler 11.

In order to distribute the staple evenly in the inner box 13, thedischarge spout 16 is pivotally mounted on the separator 10 and meansare provided for oscillating the spout 16 about a fixed axis. As bestseen in FIG. 1, a mounting structure which includes a pair of spacedmounting brackets 21 journally support a straight portion 22 of thedischarge spout 16. The straight section 22 has a bell end 23 swivellyconnected to the inlet line 15. As illustrated bearings 24 permitangular movement of the straight section 22 relative to the inlet line15 and a packing gland 25 maintains a seal between the two parts. Thestraight section 22 of the spout 16 extends into the inner box 13 and isconnected to an elbow 26. The elbow 26 diverts the flow downwardlythrough the inner box 13 in a direction generally toward opening 19. Thespout 26 may be constructed of medium gauge, stainless steel parts forfield fabrication. In the field fabrication, the straight section 22 isfirst inserted into the support journals and the individual parts arewelded together to form the elbow 26 as illustrated.

In order to impart oscillatory motion to the spout 16, a gear-head motor27 is operably connected to the straight section 22 by a linkage whichconverts continuous rotary movement into oscillating movement. Morespecifically, the motor 27 has an output shaft 28 which carries a crankdisc 29. One end of a crank rod 30 is eccentrically mounted on the crankdisc 29 and the opposite end is pinned to a yoke arm 31 (see FIG. 2).The arm 31 is welded or otherwise secured to a collar 32 affixed to thestraight section 22. Thus it will be appreciated that as the outputshaft 28 rotates the spout 16 will be oscillated about the axis of thestraight section 22. As shown in FIG. 2 the oscillation imparted by themotor 27 and linkage moves the elbow 26 between the solid line and thebroken line positions. The range of angular movement of the elbow 26should be sufficient to distribute the staple evenly within the confinesof the inner box 13. The included angle indicated by the arrow 33between the two positions can be changed by conventional adjustmentmeans on the linkage. The included angles should include at least thelateral boundaries of the outlet 19 of the inner box 13. In thispreferred embodiment an included angle of 58 or 28 on either side ofcenter provides sufficient scope to include the lateral boundaries ofthe inner box. 13.

Although this preferred embodiment of the invention calls for a cranklinkage, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that otherdevices such as a hydraulic ram can also be utilized to impart theoscillatory motion to the spout 16.

The rate of oscillation, of course, will vary according to the flow rateof the material, but for most applications it has been found thatoscillation of 13.5 cycles per minute adequately distributes the staplein the inner box 13.

In operation, the air and staple conveyed through line 15 pass throughthe spout 16 with the spout 16 being oscillated by the motor 27 and thelinkage described. The discharge end 16a of the spout 16, oscillatingbetween the solid and broken line positions of FIG. 2, uniformlydistributes the staple in the inner box 13. The staple gravitates to thebottom of the inner box 13 and thence through the opening 19 into thebaler 11. The air separates and flows through the outlet port 17 to theoutlet line 18. Thus by constantly changing the direction of discharge,the air currents are dispersed throughout the scope of oscillation.

While this preferred embodiment has been described in particular detail,it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the scope ofthis invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a separator of the type adapted to feed staple fiber to a balerpress, and having an air-staple separator chamber, an inlet line incommunication with said chamber for pneumatically conveying staplethereto, an air outlet line, and a staple discharge opening incommunication with a receiving compartment of the baler press, theimprovement wherein said inlet line includes a spout having a dischargeend disposed internally of said separator chamber; and means forangularly moving said spout within said separator chamber whereby stapleis distributed uniformly throughout said separator chamber.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein said spout includes astraight section journally mounted on said separator and disposedtransversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of said chamber, andan elbow connected to said straight section, said elbow being disposedin said separating chamber and operative to divert flow downwardlytherein.

3. The invention as recited in claim 2 wherein said means for angularlymoving said spout includes power means and a crank linkageinterconnecting said power means and said spout, said power means beingoperative through said crank linkage to impart oscillatory movement tosaid spout, the direction of said discharge end oscillating in apredetermined range.

4. The invention as recited in claim 3 wherein said linkage provides fora spout oscillation wherein said predetermined range has an includedangle which spans said staple discharge opening.

5. The invention as recited in claim 3 wherein said power means includesan electric gear-head motor having a power output shaft, and saidlinkage includes a disc mounted on said shaft, an arm mounted on saidstraight section of said spout, and a rod interconnecting said arm andsaid disc whereby oscillatory motion is imparted to said spout bycontinuous rotary motion of said output shaft.

6. The invention as recited in claim 5 wherein said rod interconnectssaid disc and said arm to provide for a predetermined angle ofoscillation as defined by the di rection of said discharge end of saidspout, said prede termined angle being sufficient to substantially spansaid discharge opening of said separator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,087,464 7/ 1937 Ayers 302592,449,592 9/ 1948 Daddario 30260XR 2,488,395 11/1949 Goldberg 100912,954,730 10/1960 Moser 100215 3,001,830 9/1961 Weichel 30261 3,025,7853/ 1962 Deerns 10090 3,105,722 10/1963 Thompson 30260 BILLY J. WILHITE,Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 10090, 215

